Choi Hyo Geun, Kim Joo-Hee, An Yong-Hwi, Park Min Woo, Wee Jee Hye
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea.
Hallym Data Science Laboratory, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea.
J Clin Med. 2022 Jul 22;11(15):4266. doi: 10.3390/jcm11154266.
The implementation of precautionary measures, such as wearing a mask and social distancing, may have affected allergic diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to compare the numbers of medical visits for allergic diseases before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance claims database. Monthly numbers of patients for four allergic diseases, i.e., allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, atopic dermatitis (AD), and allergic conjunctivitis (AC), were evaluated using ICD-10 codes and compared between the ‘before COVID-19’ period from January 2018 to February 2020, and the ‘during COVID-19’ period from March 2020 to June 2021, since the first COVID-19 patient was detected on 20 January 2020, in Korea. Subgroup analyses were performed according to age and sex. The mean numbers of medical visits for AR and asthma were significantly greater before COVID-19 than those during COVID-19 (both p < 0.001). The variance in the number of medical visits for asthma decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the mean number of medical visits for AD increased slightly during COVID-19 and that for AC did not change before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In subgroup analyses, the results showed a similar pattern to that of the total number of participants, regardless of age and sex. In conclusion, medical visits for AR and asthma significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of age and sex.
诸如佩戴口罩和保持社交距离等预防措施的实施，可能在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间对过敏性疾病产生了影响。本研究旨在比较COVID-19大流行之前和期间过敏性疾病的就诊次数。数据来自韩国国民健康保险索赔数据库。使用国际疾病分类第十版（ICD-10）编码评估了四种过敏性疾病（即过敏性鼻炎（AR）、哮喘、特应性皮炎（AD）和过敏性结膜炎（AC））的每月患者数量，并对2018年1月至2020年2月的“COVID-19之前”时期和2020年3月至2021年6月的“COVID-19期间”进行了比较，因为韩国于2020年1月20日发现了首例COVID-19患者。根据年龄和性别进行了亚组分析。AR和哮喘的平均就诊次数在COVID-19之前显著高于COVID-19期间（均p<0.001）。COVID-19大流行期间哮喘就诊次数的方差有所下降。然而，AD的平均就诊次数在COVID-19期间略有增加，而AC的平均就诊次数在COVID-19大流行之前和期间没有变化。在亚组分析中，无论年龄和性别，结果都显示出与总参与者数量相似的模式。总之，无论年龄和性别，COVID-19大流行期间AR和哮喘的就诊次数均显著减少。
